In June 1874 the Red and White received it's birthright as the South Melbourne Football Club. On Saturday 9th October 1909, in front of a crowd of 36, 700 South Melbourne defeated Carlton to win it's first VFL Premiership. South Melbourne were the top of the league winning the premiership again in 1918 and 1933.
In 1981 the Swans received the permission of the VFL to play 11 home matches in Sydney the following season. The first match was played at the SCG on Sunday 28th March 1982, when a crowd of 15764 saw the Swans defeat Melbourne by 29 points.
After 14 seasons in Sydney and 72 seasons since their last premiership, the Swans beat the West Coast Eagles by four points to win the 2005 Premiership.
